Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and
invested early in Facebook, has given $2.6 million to Endorse
Liberty, the super PAC which has released several ads attacking Paul
rivals Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry, without ever
meeting Paul.

The German-born Thiel is a 44-year-old
conservative Christian who has previously supported gay rights causes
and artificial intelligence research.

“He has great insight,” Jimmy
LaSalvia, the executive director of gay GOP group GOProud, told the
paper. “He also is inquisitive, and most of the conversations I've
had with him have been him asking questions. He gathers a lot of
information.”

Thiel, who currently helms Clarion
Capital, a global hedge fund, has provided more than half of Endorse
Liberty's proceeds.

“I think Peter has a gift for seeing
trends,” said Endorse Liberty founder Jeffrey Harmon. “PayPal
and Peter's early investment in Facebook are examples of the vision.
I believe Peter can see that Ron Paul is the future of the Republican
Party.”

Others interviewed by the paper
disagreed with Harmon's assessment of Thiel.

“You're only a genius if people don't
know about your bad bets,” said Wade Randlett, a fundraiser for
President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, who noted Thiel has
lost a “gigantic” amount of money in his own hedge fund.